[1][2] They met at the house of Giovanni de' Bardi, and their gatherings had the reputation of having all the most famous men of Florence as frequent guests.
[4] While propounding a revival of the Greek dramatic style, the Camerata's musical experiments led to the development of the stile recitativo.
[5][11] Less prominent members of the Camerata may have included the musicians Emilio de' Cavalieri, Francesco Cini, Cristoforo Malvezzi, and Alessandro Striggio.
[16] The current day's thought held that the Greeks used a style between speech and song, and this belief guided the Camerata's discourse.
[18] Largely concerned with a revival of the Greek dramatic style, the Camerata's musical experiments led to the development of the stile recitativo.
[17] Excessive counterpoint offended so the ears of the Camerata because it muddled the affetto ("affection") of the important visceral reaction in poetry.
Instead of trying to make the clearest polyphony they could, the Camerata voiced an opinion recorded by a contemporary Florentine, "means must be found in the attempt to bring music closer to that of classical times.
In 1598, Peri and Rinuccini produced Dafne, an entire drama sung in monodic style: this was the first creation of a new form called "opera".
[21] The instrumentation for an opera from the Camerata composers (Caccini and Peri) was written for a handful of gambas, lutes, and harpsichord or organ for continuo.
"[23] In the compositions of the Camerata members, the theory preceded the practice; the men decided how the music should sound before they set to compose it.
This endorsement was in stark contrast to the feelings of Francesco's brother Ferdinando I de' Medici, who was a cardinal in Rome at that time.